Washington's U.S. senators have recommended that Gov. Chris Gregoire's longtime counsel, Jenny Durkan, be named the top federal prosecutor in Western Washington.

Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell suggested Durkan for Seattle U.S. attorney in a Feb. 12 letter to the White House, according to a copy provided Wednesday by Murray's office. The senators also recommended Michael Ormsby, a Spokane lawyer, to be U.S. attorney in Eastern Washington.

The 93 U.S. attorneys around the country serve as the top Justice Department officials in their local districts. Durkan, 50, the daughter of the late Democratic state Sen. Martin Durkan, would replace Jeff Sullivan as U.S. attorney in Seattle, while Ormsby would take over for Jim McDevitt in Spokane.

"Jenny's wide-ranging legal experience and depth of knowledge of our state provide her with excellent credentials, making her well-qualified for this important federal position," Gregoire said in a statement. "Jenny is known for her successful criminal and civil litigation practice and is extremely well-regarded for her civic leadership. I fully support this recommendation of Jenny and urge quick action from President (Barack) Obama to secure her in this position."

Sullivan, who was named by the federal court to take over as Seattle U.S. attorney following the Bush administration's controversial firing of John McKay and eight others around the country, is not a political appointee and intends to stay on as a prosecutor once his replacement is confirmed.

Obama has asked U.S. attorneys to stay on, at least temporarily, but some have left voluntarily, according to his press secretary, Robert Gibbs. Currently 51 U.S. attorneys nationally are holdovers from the Bush administration.

The FBI has started background checks on Ormsby and Durkan, but it isn't clear when Obama might actually nominate them, Murray spokeswoman Alex Glass said Wednesday. Their nominations would need to be confirmed by the Senate.

"We've got an outstanding office here and it would be an honor to be considered for the position," Durkan said, declining to elaborate.

Durkan first represented Gregoire in her first campaign for attorney general in 1992, and continued to provide counsel off and on through her election in the razor-thin 2004 governor's race, which Gregoire won after two recounts and a court case. She also was counsel to Gregoire's re-election campaign last year.

Durkan has done a wide variety of civil litigation and criminal defense work, and former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice made her the first citizen observer of the Seattle Police Department's firearms review board, which reviews police shootings. She has served on a bipartisan panel that helped select nominees for federal judgeships in Western Washington.

Durkan also represented the family of Stan Stevenson, a retired Seattle Fire Department captain who was killed by a schizophrenic as Stevenson left a Mariners game in 1997. The killer had just been released from the King County Jail -- despite clear indications he was dangerous -- and Durkan helped win not only a $5.5 million award, but changes in the way the jail handled health care for mentally ill prisoners.

That history of using litigation to bring institutional changes could provide some insight as to how Durkan might approach the U.S. attorney job, if she gets it. The office can use its civil litigation powers on issues of environmental protection and corporate oversight, for example.

Ormsby's recommendation was first reported by The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane. The brother of Democratic state Rep. Timm Ormsby, he was elected to the Spokane School Board as an 18-year-old undergraduate at Gonzaga University. He's now 52 and a bond and municipal law attorney.

"Public service has been something that has long interested me," he said Wednesday. "In particular, the U.S. attorney as the chief federal law enforcement officer has a lot of input in continuing to make this region a safe place to live, and can do a great deal to facilitate cooperation by and among the various law enforcement agencies in Eastern Washington."

Ormsby has critics for his role in the controversial expansion of the garage at the River Park Square mall. He represented the Spokane Downtown Foundation, set up by the mall's developer to sell $32 million worth of bonds backed by parking revenues. His firm sent a letter to investors saying the bonds qualified for certain tax breaks when, in fact, they didn't.

The firm, then known as Preston Gates and Ellis, paid $1.4 million in penalties and taxes assessed by the Internal Revenue Service. The agency's Office of Professional Responsibility investigated whether Ormsby and another attorney performed due diligence. In a December 2007 settlement, described by the IRS as "groundbreaking," Ormsby admitted no wrongdoing but agreed that for the next 18 months he would not issue any opinions on certain financing issues without approval from the head of the firm's public finance group.